How Do You See Your Body?

For many women, mirrors seem more like magnifying glasses: Their bodies—or at least parts of them—always appear larger than they really are. In fact, 40% of all healthy-weight and underweight women ages 35 to 55 consider themselves fat, reports a USDA study. For a reality check on these stats, we asked three healthy-weight women to view one real and four altered photos of themselves. The altered images made them appear either 10 pounds heavier, 10 pounds lighter, heavier in their upper body, or heavier in their lower body. Half of them thought the plumped-up images were correct.

"This supports the notion that women are more likely to misperceive themselves as heavier than they really are," says Eric Stice, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas in Austin. "It should be a wake-up call for women to not be so hard on themselves." It was for most of the women—and should be for you too.

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Jennifer Wiley

Age 35, 5' 5 1/2", 145 pounds

Jennifer, a pharmaceutical industry sales director, describes herself as "more muscular than the average woman. I have an athletic build." But since giving birth to her son 7 years ago, she's put on 10 extra pounds, mostly on her lower body. "My post-pregnancy weight is all between my upper thighs and my waist. That's where I hold all my fat. Fortunately, I'm muscular enough so I don't look out of whack."

Her photo guess: Jennifer picked the photo with a larger lower body. When she learned she was wrong, she gasped. "I know why I thought that—all I could see were the big white thighs." Yet her husband, Matt, identified the correct photo. "I guess he knows my body better than I do," she said.

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Kathryn Kercher

Age 36, 5' 3 1/2", 119 pounds

Clothes play a big role in how Kathryn perceives her body. "I can feel really good some days if I have the right outfit," says the marketing director for a publishing company. "And other days, if I'm wearing something that doesn't fit right, I think, 'I'm fat, my boobs are too big, I need to go to the gym.' " When asked what she likes best about her body, she said her outfit makes all the difference. "Sometimes I really like my chest when I'm wearing something form-fitting and high quality, but other times it makes me feel heavy." But a good workout always boosts her self-esteem. "After I practice yoga, I feel really good about my body."

Her photo guess: Kathryn picked the photo with a larger upper body. Her husband, Gunnar, picked the correct one. She quickly explained, "I think my chest is out of proportion with other parts of my body, but I guess I'm really not that big."

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Lynne Pierce

age 40, 5'6", 107 pounds

Lynne, who bikes, walks, plays tennis, works out, and more, describes herself as "tall and, I hate to say, thin. I like to think I'm just a little thinner than average, but proportioned." Her worst feature: "My scraggly arms," says the director at a consulting firm. "I've always wanted to be more muscular. I exercise, but it's not working."

Her photo guess: To everyone's surprise, Lynne, her husband, Scott, and their son, Michael, all picked the 10-pounds-slimmer photo. (Though Lynne admits it was a toss-up between that photo and the actual, unretouched one.) "They both looked the same, and I really had absolutely no idea which was the real me."

Lasting (Self) Impressions

About a month after this experiment, Prevention contacted the women to see if their body-image reality check had a lasting effect. It did. Those who thought they looked bigger than they really are have lightened up on themselves and are feeling better about their bodies. Trudy traded in her shapeless clothes for more tailored styles and has been reaping compliments. When Kathryn shops, she's now more committed to finding the right outfit. "I think twice before buying clothes just because they're a great deal. Instead, I'll spend more money on something that really fits well and makes me feel good about myself." Jennifer has lost 7 pounds since we photographed her. JoAnne, the only one who got her image right, has discovered that her husband isn't the only person who thinks she's slender: "We were talking about weight at work, and everyone was guessing that I was a lot skinnier than I am. It makes you realize the number on the scale doesn't matter so much." We think that's a pretty healthy perspective.